Stupid Cupid
by wannabe1980
Summary: Valentine's Day is new to the Enchanted Forest, and Hook hates it already. Can Cupid's arrow bring him his True Love? Does he even want it to? Captain Swan fluff/smut. Rated M for future chapters.
1. Love is in the Air

AN: This is my first OUAT fic, but I have loved the show since day one! I'm a dedicated Captain Swan shipper, and I hope I can do them justice. Thanks for reading, and please review. I'd love to hear your feedback.

Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon a Time, but if Captain Hook were mine, I'd make him forget all about Emma! Wink, wink!

Stupid Cupid

Chapter 1: Love is in the Air

Hook sat alone at a rickety old table in the darkest corner of the village tavern. All around him, happy couples laughed and flirted. And gazed into each other's eyes. And held hands. And stroked each other's faces. And kissed. And every other sweet, romantic, nauseating public display of affection imaginable.

"Bloody hell!" Hook muttered under his breath, turning back to his pint of ale. Before Regina's curse, no one in the Enchanted Forest had ever heard of this nonsense called Valentine's Day. Tonight marked the second such holiday since their return, but it had been overlooked last year. Last year, they had been waging war against the Wicked Witch of the West. No one had had time to celebrate romance. This year, however, the Witch had been defeated and peace restored. Now all the ex-Storybrookers were reveling in their customs carried over from the Land Without Magic.

Hook glanced around the room, taking note of the couples present. Snow and Charming, of course. Ella and Thomas. Ariel and Eric. Ruby and Dr. Whale (who had come from the Land Without Color now that the portals were open again). Regina and Robin. Nova and Grumpy. Even Aurora and Philip were there, having been told of the wonders of Valentine's Day by Snow. Many others whom Hook did not recognize also milled around the room.

Hooks eyes continued to scan the room over the rim of his glass, searching for that certain golden mane. The door to the tavern opened, allowing a gust of frigid air and a flurry of snow into the room, and Hook held his breath. As a feminine form shrouded in a heavy blue cloak came into view, his heart sped up painfully. When she raised her hood, he sighed in disappointment. Dark hair cascaded down her back as she beckoned to someone still standing outside. Then the Crocodile himself came into view, grasping the woman's—Belle's—hand. Rumple had been freed from the Witch's crystal ball (turns out that thing was a veritable treasure trove of magical properties) when Emma had smashed it after killing the Witch.

Hook had decided to live and let live where Rumple was concerned. He still hadn't forgiven him for Milah's death, but he knew that vengeance wouldn't bring her back. He also knew that killing Rumple would hurt Henry, which would, in turn, hurt Emma. Hurting Emma was something Hook just wasn't willing to do. So he bit back the growl that threatened to escape him at the sight of the Crocodile and returned to his search for the golden-haired goddess who held his heart.

He was about to give up his search, deciding she wasn't there, when a thick crowd parted in the far corner of the room. Then he saw her. She was dressed in a green tunic, which made her eyes shine like emeralds. He smiled to himself as he noticed her leather breeches and boots. His Swan. She had destroyed the clothes she had brought from her land during the fighting, but she still shunned the long dresses and other finery women of this realm wore. She had been in this realm for nearly six months. The war had been over for two, and he still had not seen her in a dress.

Hook watched her silently, just enjoying the sight of her. He was nearly on his feet to go to her when Balefire approached her carrying two pints of ale. He held one out to her, which she accepted with a smile. They clinked glasses and drank deeply, then turned and took a table together.

Hook's heart cracked inside his chest, and he sat back down on his stool with a heavy thud. He turned back to his ale to numb the pain. He desperately wished for something stronger, but he had emptied his flask earlier in the evening. He signaled the nearest wench as he drained his glass. "One more, please, lass," he said with a strained smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"Coming right up, sir," she replied with a bob of her head. Hook didn't watch her go. He had already hidden his face in his palm, doing all he could to escape all the accursed _love_ going on around him.

"Sweet gods in all the realms," he silently prayed, "let that ale come quickly!" He looked up slightly when he heard the thump of a glass hitting the wood in front of him. "Thanks, lass," he said, reaching for the glass.

"You're welcome," said a familiar voice above him, "but I don't think the barmaid would take that as a compliment."

Startled, Hook raised his eyes to the man standing beside him. "Bae," he said, "to what do I owe this honor?"

"It's still Neil," he replied. "I need to talk to you. Mind if I sit?"

"Please, be my guest," Hook said, gesturing to the stool across from him. "What can I do for you, _Neil_?" Hook asked as Neil sat.

"It's about Emma," Neil began.

"Of course it is," Hook thought, his eyes sliding across the room to where she sat now chatting happily with her parents. "What about her?" he asked tentatively. He knew this conversation was about to make him even more miserable than he had been five minutes earlier.

"Back in Storybrooke," Neil hedged, "before Pan's curse…."

"Aye?"

"You said you were going to back off and give us a chance to be a family. Me and her, and Henry."

"That I did," Hook replied. "What of it?"

"Does that still hold?" Neil asked. "Now that things have settled down, are you still going to stay out of the way and give our family a chance?"

"I'm a man of my word, Bae," Hook said, affronted. "I told you I would give you a chance, and so I shall."

Satisfied, Neil nodded and began to rise. "Thanks, man," he said, offering Hook his hand.

Hook rose to his feet and grasped Neil's proffered hand firmly. He held Neil's gaze, unblinking. "I also told you that when you break her heart again, I'll be there to pick up the pieces."

"I'm not going to break her heart," Neil said defensively. "That happened a long time ago. Things are different now." He turned to go, then paused and glanced back at Hook over his shoulder. "Thanks for bringing them back to us."

"I didn't do it for you, mate," Hook mumbled, picking up his glass and staring into the amber depths.

"I know," Neil said, still not facing the pirate, "but thanks anyway." Then he was gone.

Four hours and countless pints of ale later, Hook was well and truly drunk. He thought he was hallucinating when a slightly chubby man with a baby face joined him at his table. The stranger's size wasn't what made Hook doubt his eyes, though. Fat men were common enough, even in an Enchanted Forest full of inexplicably attractive, and often magical, fairytale characters. What caught Hook by surprise was the man's apparel—or lack thereof—and the wings. The crazy bugger was naked, and he had wings. Bloody _wings_!

Hook was grateful when the stranger sat down, concealing his more personal bits beneath the table's edge. Hook attempted to look him in the eye, fighting hard to hold his own eyelids up. "Lose a bet, mate?" he slurred.

The man smiled broadly. "No," he chuckled, "nothing like that."

"Then why the hell are you naked, man?" Hook asked incredulously. "It's bloody February. It may have escaped your notice, but it's been snowing for days. You're likely to freeze your bollocks off," he finished with a slight gesture toward the man's lower half.

"Humans," the man said with a roll of his eyes. "I forget. Just a moment." He closed his eyes as a soft pink glow surrounded him for a split second. When he opened his eyes again, he was clothed in a soft-looking crimson robe that appeared to be velvet. His wings were also gone.

"Well that's a nifty trick," Hook said with a raised eyebrow. "So what sort of creature are you, then?"

"Creature!" the man scoffed. "I'm no creature! I'm a god," he said with an air of superiority. "My name is Amor, but most humans know me as Cupid."


	2. You Don't Own Me

AN: Thanks for reading! I hope you're enjoying the story so far.

Disclaimer: I still don't own Once Upon a Time (or Captain Hook). :(

Stupid Cupid

Chapter 2: You Don't Own Me

Emma watched Hook and Neil from across the room. She could practically feel the tension radiating from Hook. Most people wouldn't see it. He hid it so well with his air of confidence, his lazy smile, and that damnable eyebrow. Most people would think him totally at ease conversing with Neil, but she knew him better than most. Whatever Neil was saying to him wasn't sitting well with him at all, and he was holding back the fight in him (pirate and all, you know). She could see it in the set of his jaw, the rigid line of his shoulders, the way his fingers clenched around his glass, and the way his hook dug lightly into the wooden tabletop.

By the time Neil made his way back to her, Emma was ready to kick his ass. Her anger was simmering, just below the boiling point, as he strode to her table with a wide grin on his face. She flinched when he kissed her cheek and sat down beside her. "What was all that about?" she asked.

"What was what about?" Neil deflected.

"You know what," she said, narrowing her eyes at him. "What were you saying to Hook?"

"Oh, nothing much," Neil shrugged. "I was just, you know, thanking him for bringing you and Henry back."

"He brought us back six months ago," Emma challenged. "You're just now getting around to saying 'thank you'?"

"Well," Neil scrambled for an excuse, knowing he was caught. "With the fighting, and then rebuilding and all, things have been busy. I haven't really seen him, and…"

"Cut the crap, Neil," Emma said with a hard look.

"What?" Neil decided denial was his best option. "Em, I don't know what you're talking abou—"

"Don't give me that!" Emma cut him off. "You should know better than to lie to me by now because—A—I can tell when you're lying, and—B—I could see from here that whatever you said upset him. So what was it?"

"Listen, Emma," Neil sighed, closing his eyes as he braced for the fury he knew was about to hit him, "I just wanted to be sure of his intentions."

"His _intentions_?" Emma's voice was low and threatening.

"Yeah, his intentions toward you," Neil explained, trying to keep it vague. Emma just raised her eyebrows at him expectantly, so he continued. "I mean, uh, whether I'm going to have a fight on my hands."

"A fight," Emma repeated, crossing her arms over her chest. "And I'm assuming I am the prize in this fight?"

"No, Emma," Neil reached for her, but she scooted away. "It's not like that."

"Then what is it like?" she asked coldly.

"It's just…"

"Emma!" a voice called from near the bar. Emma turned to see Ruby beckoning to her. "Emma, come here a minute."

"This conversation is not over," Emma said as she got to her feet. She pasted a smile on her face as she approached her friends at the bar. Neil saw his opportunity to escape and seized it. He quietly slipped out the front door into the snow, trying hard not to be noticed. Emma saw him leave, but she had a good idea where to find him later. There was no way she was letting him off that easy.

The snow sparkled in the moonlight as Emma made her way toward the derelict old house. She saw the footprints in the snow leading to the front door, which stood ajar. She knocked lightly as she pushed inside, to announce her presence more than ask permission to enter.

"Hey," Neil called softly from his seat by the fireplace. A small fire flickered, casting shadows throughout the tiny room.

"Hey," Emma answered, taking in her surroundings as she made her way across the room. The home obviously had been uninhabited for many years. A thick layer of dust covered every surface and cobwebs clung to every crevice. Neil had pointed out this house—his boyhood home—as they had led a company of soldiers across the countryside, but she had never been inside. Emma knew he often came here for solitude, but she respected his privacy enough not to follow him. Tonight was an exception.

"So, picking up where we left off," Emma said as she took the chair facing his by the fire. "What's this business about Hook's intentions and the two of you fighting over me?"

"I just want us to be a family," Neal said, his tone pleading. "I want us to have a real chance. To make a go of it. That will be a lot easier without him in the way. Without interference. That's all."

"So what?" Emma said, her voice rising. "You warned him to stay away from your woman?"

"Actually, no," Neil replied smugly. "He voluntarily backed off."

Emma felt a pang in her heart. "He did what?"

"Yeah," Neil's smug smile widened. "It was his idea. He came up with it all on his own. So…." Neil again reached for Emma's hand.

"So nothing," she hissed, jerking her hands away from him. "Just because he decided he doesn't want me doesn't mean I'm yours by default. News flash, Neil. You don't own me! We may be back in the Enchanted Forest, and arranged marriages may be commonplace here, but I am _not_ property for you men folk to decide my fate. I'll decide who I want to be with, if I want to be with anyone at all." She got to her feet angrily.

"Emma, calm down," Neil tried to soothe her. "No one is trying to control you. I just want to be in your life. I am Henry's father after all."

"You can be Henry's father without being with me," Emma answered, still standing. She held her hands out to the fire. "Henry loves you, and I know you love him. That doesn't depend on whether you and I are together."

"But I also love _you_, Em," Neil said, coming to stand beside her. "I thought you said you loved me, too."

"I do love you, Neil," Emma said, her voice small and trembling. "I probably always will. You're a big part of my past, and that past is part of who I am now." She turned to face him, tears shimmering in her eyes in the firelight. "I just don't think I'm _in love_ with you. I'm not that eighteen-year-old girl who went on a crime spree with you anymore. That girl was head over heels for you. She would've taken you back in a heartbeat, even after going to jail for you."

"I've changed a lot since then, too," Neal replied, placing his hands on Emma's shoulders. "But I still want that future we dreamed of." He caught her eye and smiled, "or at least as close as we can get to it here."

"That's just it," Emma said, shrugging his hands off her shoulders. "Back then, I could see my future with you. I could see the place in Tallahassee we talked about. I could see you and me building a life together. I had this picture in my head of our life, and even though the details were fuzzy, the fact that it was you and me was crystal clear."

"And now?" Neal asked.

"Now," Emma sighed. "Now I can't see it anymore. When I think of my future, I see Henry, and my parents, but you're just not part of that picture. I don't know whether you could be again or not."

"So maybe we just need some time to see how we feel about each other," Neil said.

"Maybe," Emma said halfheartedly. "I don't know, Neil. I just need some space for a while, okay?"

"Okay," he nodded, "but I'm not giving up."

"That's your choice," she shrugged. "I need to go." She retraced her steps to the front door. "See you later," she said over her shoulder as she stepped outside.

"Later, Em," Neil whispered, staring after her longingly.

Emma trudged through the snow with a heavy heart. She was still angry with Neil for—as it seemed to her—staking a claim on her. She was also angry with Hook for letting her go so easily. Mostly, she decided, she was hurt. She was hurt that Hook apparently didn't want her and hurt that Neil would go behind her back and then lie to her about it.

Why did everything have to be so freakin' complicated? On the one hand, she had a man who said he loved her and wanted to be with her, but she wasn't sure she could love him that way again. On the other, she had a man whom she might be able to love, but now she wasn't sure he loved her. "Seriously, what the hell!" she muttered under her breath.

She supposed she only had herself to blame. She hadn't done much to encourage Hook's affection. She still remembered their searing kiss in Neverland, but she had told him it was a one-time thing. After that, it was save Henry. Defeat Pan. Stop the curse. One thing after another. Since she had regained her memory in New York she had been too busy putting out fires (sometimes literally) to think about romance. So really, it wasn't her fault if she had pushed Hook away. Circumstances got in the way. Surely he knew that, right?

Then another thought hit her. What if Pan hadn't followed them back from Neverland? What if everything had been business as usual in Storybrooke upon their return? Would she still have pushed him away? Would he have succeeded in winning her heart?

Emma's thoughts were in a whirl of what ifs when she felt a stabbing pain in her chest. She fell back onto the ground and landed with a thud in the snow. She looked down and saw a shining golden arrow lodged near her breastbone, right in her heart. She felt its beat slowing, and she swore she saw the arrow begin to glow—soft pink at first, then brighter as her punctured heart grew weaker. She thought she saw the outline of a man emerge from the trees as her vision failed and the world faded to black.


End file.
